D.C. Memo: Sinclair Ready to Talk Spectrum Deals with Starlink after Transition to NextGen TV
“I think the macro point is that this spectrum is very valuable,” Sinclair CEO Christopher Ripley told Wall Street analysts yesterday
Today’s Headlines
■ Nexstar Posts Record Second Quarter Revenue on TEGNA Merger
■ Optimum Down 40,000 Broadband Subs in Second Quarter
■ NEPA Valley: ACLP Finds BEAD ‘Winners’ (Excluding Starlink) Need (Gulp) 86,402 Permits Nationwide
■ NCTA: USF Not Meant to be ‘a Funding Stream in Perpetuity’
■ Pole Delays Capping Archtop Fiber at 20,000 Customers in Upstate New York
■ Hawaiian Telcom to Receive $149.5 Million from BEAD to Connect Hawaii
■ Capitol Hill Panel: FCC Needs Explicit Power to Remove China Gear
■ Ookla: Charter Now the World’s Largest Wi‑Fi 7 Provider
■ Welch Amendment to Make USDA Use 100/100 Mbps in ReConnect Program
■ Charter Network Damaged by ‘Criminal Attack’ in North Carolina
■ Dell’Oro Group: Data‑Center Spending on PON Gear Up 844% in Past Year
Spectrum: Looks like Elon Musk could disrupt another industry – broadcast TV. Sinclair Inc. – which owns 177 TV stations in 79 markets – is weighing the possibility of eventually pursuing a spectrum deal with Musk’s Starlink. But CEO Christopher Ripley told analysts Aug. 5 that any move like that would likely come after the broadcaster completed its transition to NextGenTV/ATSC 3.0 and evaluated the profitability of evolving new programming in addition to data casting services being developed by EdgeBeam Wireless, an industry consortium that includes Nexstar Media Group, Gray Media, and Scripps. “The industry will have to assess – is it better to run those use cases over that spectrum and earn an annuity stream of income from it or is it better to transact to sell or lease to someone like Starlink,” Ripley said. He added, “I think all of those are possibilities and it’s really just an economic equation.” (More after paywall)
